How to Choose Rock Climbing Shoes

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Bringing the same tension, support, comfort and performance as the popular Anasazi VCS, the Five Ten Anasazi LV climbing shoes for women are a lower-volume version.
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View all Five Ten Women's Climbing ShoesBest Use | Rock Climbing |
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Climbing Shoe Type | Moderate |
Last | Slip-lasted |
Upper | Synthetic Cowdura upper |
Lining | Synthetic |
Outsole | Stealth C4 Rubber |
Footwear Closure | Strap |
Can Be Resoled | Yes |
Vegan | Yes |
Gender | Women's |
Weight (Pair) | 12.4 ounces |
5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 10 | 10.5 | 11 | |
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U.S. Women's | 5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 10 | 10.5 | 11 |
UK | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 |
EU | 36 | 36.66 | 37.33 | 38 | 38.66 | 39.33 | 40 | 40.66 | 41.33 | 42 | 42.33 | 43.33 | 44 |
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I bought myself a pair for my birthday a few months ago to give me La Sportiva Muira Vs's a rest and I absolutely love them. They were the last pair in the store and just happened to be my size and I haven't seen them in stock since. I lucked out! I think I love these shoes more than any other shoes I have worn. They have a nice tight fit, especially around the heal, which I love. They also have some padding on the top so when you velcro them they are still comfortable. I have done a lot of climbing in these shoes from sport climbing, trad, crack, gym and bouldering and no matter what type of climbing I do I love doing it in these shoes.
I've been climbing this shoe for about ten years. I have tried to switch shoes and have always come back. It is a great edging shoe, great smearing shoe, and great for heel hooking and gymnastic moves....really everything shoe. I tried to switch to the ladies Evolve shoe (first generation) when it came out to save some money. It was too soft to try to edge on anything small. I then tried the Lady Katana...it was a great stiff shoe but the back of the shoe cut into my Acheles tendon and rubbed to the point of blistering...for me it was an expensive mistake. So maybe I am a bit of a Goldilocks when it comes to climbing shoes, but in my book, this one is just right!
First of all, let me say the sizing on these is really small. I don't know if they've changed it recently, or if my pain threshold is just really low, but I had to go a full size up from my street shoes for these to fit properly. I've been told that they are made from a synthetic material, not leather, so the stretch should in theory be minimal. I may update this review after I have worn them for a while. When I climbed in these shoes, I didn't even notice them. This is a compliment! They didn't pinch my toes, my feet weren't crying the entire time, and they were super light. It felt like I wasn't wearing anything, they just molded to my feet like a second skin. The only things i'm nervous about is how well the velcro is going to do in the future, and the stickiness of the shoes. They felt a little slippery to me, but we'll see.
I went a full size higher since the shoes run small. The length seems to fit me alright but the width is super narrow. My feet are not that wide, but I still had problems with it. After a month of trying to break-in, they still feel very tight and narrow. I notice that my feet hurt after climbing, so much so that I almost couldn't walk.
I took the risk of buying these from REI online without having tried on any Five Ten shoes, which is generally stupid because people's feet are different and different brands fit differently. I bought them through the new used gear system online, so I would have had to pay to ship them back. Thankfully, I got really lucky and they fit my foot perfectly! I ordered a size 10, the same size as my street shoe size, so unlike some other reviewers, I found them true to size. Maybe I'm used to a more tightly fitted shoe. But they fit my foot snugly in the toe and heel without pinching either. For foot-shape reference, I usually have trouble with shoes painfully cutting into my heel at the top and/or having a bubble at the bottom of the heel. I've read a review that said they were made to fit a narrow foot, but I've never noticed having a narrow foot before, and they fit fine. I imagine they'd squish a wide foot though. Unlike other shoes that I've had to climb in at least a few times before I didn't feel the need to rip them off after each climb, these don't seem to need a break-in period and were comfortable the first time I wore them. Hopefully they don't stretch too much, which they shouldn't (I'll update if that changes). I've admittedly only climbed in them once, but I found them to be very precise, and I felt more confident than usual edging on some pretty iffy (for me) footholds. These seem like a great complement to my more downturned Scarpa Force Vs (mine are size 40.5 for reference, which are sized pretty tightly).
I had to return the first pair I ordered because I went with my street shoe size and it was way too small! I'm a 6.5 and ended up getting a 7.5. They fit like a glove on my feet and I haven't had a chance to try them out yet but I am excited!
Make sure to size up instead of sizing down for this climbing shoe